Apocalypse Eclipse Session 7
The Seventh Session of Apocalypse Eclipse Preceded by Apocalypse Eclipse Session 6 As Blindfest makes their way down the tunnel, Claudiu sneaks up ahead with skill to surpass even the most wary of creatures. Not too far down the tunnel he spots Zuggtmoy and her guards in a large cavern with the Demon Queen performing some magic above a pool. Sneaking back, he relays the information back to the other members and they proceed forward. Bane uses his shadowy magic to slow their enemies' reactions and Nehem uses the power of Buragan to teleport his allies and fortify their spirits. Blindfest has a difficult battle as they quickly find out that the pool is not filled with water, but rather a powerful acid and their healing magic is weakened by the demonic influence of the abyssal layer. As Zuggtmoy's guards are slain and she starts accumulating injuries she attempts to offer a ceasefire to Blindfest, but they have no inclination to yield and the Demon Queen is eventually struck down. Not long after Zuggtmoy is defeated, the fungi in the chamber start to wither. Quickly rising up though are slicks of ooze. The party is fairly sure that this is related to the Demon Lord of oozes, Juiblex. They continue on a short way, as they still are in search of Fortenk's notes, and come across a building in the next cavern. Inside they find the research they desired, as well as information recorded by Zuggtmoy concerning the Underdark and the Astral Sea. Taking everything not nailed down, the party decides to head back the way they had come and take another crack at shutting down the portal from the abyss to Gloomwrought. While traveling to the portal they spot an army of gnolls led by the Demon Lord of gnolls himself, Yeenoghu. Blindfest carefully avoids the army as they head toward an unknown portal. Eventually Blindfest finds the portal they had failed at earlier and start their second attempt to disrupt it. Darrak starts preparing a teleportation ritual should hasty retreat be needed and the rest of Blindfest gets to work. Bane and Claudiu use their thievery skills to scratch out runes, while Nehem tries to disrupt it with the holy power of Buragan. They come close to failing again, but manage to destroy it eventually. It again lets off a great flare of energy, alerting demons loitering not too far off, but Darrak completes his ritual and Blindfest jump through the portal he created. The adventurers make their way back to Gloomwrought, and Fortenk thanks them for retrieving his research. Fortenk tells the party that there is a magical item Blindfest may want which will help them in their quest: an orb called the Eye of Allabar, which would let them track the aberrant planetoid's location in the sky. The party agrees that they will most likely need to destroy Allabar after reversing time to restore Istria and head towards Arvandor, as it is located in a library in that divine domain. Darrak also takes a moment to use his healing prowess to drive the disease contracted in the abyss from everyone but Nehem. Bane and Claudiu take a bit of a shock to the system, but Darrak fumbles a bit on himself and falls unconscious from the attempt. Nehem uses the rejuvenating power of Buragan to put Darrak back on his feet. Fortunately the party recovers and they are all cured and ready to go. Traversing the planes once again, Blindfest find themselves in the glittering verdant paradise of Arvandor. Soon after their arrival, Darrak is approached by an elven historian of Labelas Enoreth calling herself Eiluned. She mentions that she has been working with Cathonia, and is attempting to track the history of the destruction of Istria. Eiluned implores Darrak to find out what happened to the souls. Darrak begins performing a ritual to ask planar sages for assistance, but then realizes that powerful magic must be preventing others from successfully performing the same ritual. Blindfest then travel to the Empire of Astaira within Arvandor, seeking out the library in which the Eye of Allabar is held. They find the library besieged by members of the Blackstar Host, servants of Timesus. The Host is tearing the library apart in an apparent search for something. Blindfest surprises and destroys all of the elementals, but not before Nehem is able to determine that the Host is also searching for the Eye of Allabar. Darrak finds an empty pedestal for the Eye and scrys through it to determine that the Eye was taken by a mind flayer, and is now aboard a Nautiloid, an astral vessel created by the illithids, traveling on a gambler strand. Meanwhile, Claudiu secretly burns some books in worship to Vecna. Followed by Apocalypse Eclipse Session 8 Recording *Part 1 - How many attacks does it take to get to the center of a Demon Lady? Tune in to find out the answer to that and more!